Show Me Love
by ReLeNtLeSs RaIn
Summary: Ryoko was against killing and made Kousuke promise never to again, but what happens when she gets kidnapped and he stands not far away? Will He keep his promise and have Ryoko killed or will he break it and save the one he loves? T for chap.6
1. Lurking Danger

**Title: **Show Me Love

**Character Pairing: **Kousuke x Ryoko

**Summary: **Ryoko, as we all know is against killing she even made Kousuke promise not to kill anymore. Kousuke had grudgingly agreed and resisted all urges to kill in order to keep his promise. But what happens when a hunter kidnaps Ryoko? Will he keep his promise to Ryoko and have her killed before his very eyes, or will he break the promise and save the life of the one he loves?

**Type: **Angst/Romance

**BTW: **Once again, I do not own Spiral or any of the characters except for the hunter or hunters that I put into this story…

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They day had started out how any other Saturday would've started. It was around 7:45 or even 8:00 in the morning and Ryoko had gone out for a jog. Or a sprint for that matter. She had no destination in mind, she just had some regular day topics to think about and some decisions to make. What better way to rack your brain for answers than by running where you are free think and only have to worry about the color of the stoplight and the occasional drunk driver to avoid being run over.

Ryoko had found herself in a trance of deep thought and barely recognized the area around her. She was far from her regular route, but a change of scenery was good every once in a while. If she had been paying attention, which she was not, she would've noticed the shinning black car that seemed to be following her. It stayed a good distance back and had the appearance that it belonged where it was, no matter where it may be. It was just one of those vehicles that had the "look like you belong" look. Maybe that's why Ryoko didn't know it was following her.

Soon exhaustion began to flow over her and she slowed to a jog, and then after about ten minuets slowed again to a fast walk. She began noticing the scenery now. There was a lot more open space and she hadn't seen an apartment building for at least five sidewalk-less blocks. She inhaled deeply. The air was a little more pure out here, not as polluted as the air in Osaka.

For a moment she stood still, just admiring the view and that's when the sleek black car passed her. The image of the car sent a vibe to her memory.

"Now where have I seen that before?" She wondered out loud. She racked her brain and still couldn't remember exactly where she had seen that car. Maybe the same model had been in that car dealership that she'd passed earlier. Either way she turned around and began heading back in the direction that she came. She had had enough adventuring for one day. She'd turned away disturbed and even though she turned around every few moments to look, she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her, even though there seemed to be no one there.

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Meanwhile, back in Osaka, Kousuke was still asleep at 9:15 when his cell phone went off. He was accustom to the noise of the vibrator and so when he went to sleep he turned on a regular ring so that it would wake him up if there was an emergency…or if Ryoko was in one of her moods and wanted bread.

Kousuke answered the phone with a short "Yeah, what is it?" He was instantly jerked awake by Ryoko's yelling in his ear.

"Is that all you can manage? 'Yeah what is it?' You should no better than to speak that way to a lady Kousuke." Ryoko let out a long sigh and Kousuke sat up in his bed.

"Whatever." Kousuke was still not fully awake yet and his words were a slur.

"Don't tell me you were still asleep," The brunette said as her face acquired an annoyed look.

"Well what do you expect? It's 9:00 on a Saturday. Not everyone likes to get up at the crack of dawn everyday." The crimson haired teen rubbed his forehead and grabbed his yellow tinted sunglass from off of his nightstand. "What did you call for? Make it quick so I can go back to bed."

"You're such a jerk, Kousuke. I called to ask you if you've seen this one car around. It's a newer model. It's black and has black tinted windows. Even the windshield.

"I see a lot of new black cars, Ryoko. Why?" Kousuke heard Ryoko let out a dismal sigh. He knew at once that something was amiss.

"I was out running this morning, and I went far out of town. When I realized that I had gotten too far out I turned around and I saw this black car go slowly past me, almost as if it were watching me." Kousuke feared he knew the answer, but didn't say a word until he was sure that Ryoko was done talking. "When I started walking back I felt as if there was someone watching me, but every time I turned to look there was no one there. I began trying to figure out where I'd seen it before because it seemed so damned familiar. I began to realize that I had seen it every time I made a turn. That car was following me. I know that there was a hunter in that car. But why didn't he shoot at me or try to kill me?"

Kousuke was silent for a moment. He couldn't think of the right words to say.

"Hello?" Kousuke shook himself from his thoughts of what would've happened if that hunter had killed her.

"Yeah I'm here." Kousuke let out a frustrated sigh and thought for another moment of what to tell her. "Where are you right now?" was the only thing he could manage to say.

"This may sound weird, but I'm outside of your apartment building," Ryoko said. (A/N: Well that was crappy…) Kousuke shook his head.

"And why might that be?" Kousuke asked, a speck of humor in his voice.

"Well I just passed it now. I'm just running around. If that was a hunter, or any regular kidnapper then it will be a lot harder to find me if I don't stay in one place. If I went home or stayed at someone's house they might find me if they've been watching me long enough." Kousuke nodded although he knew no one was around to see.

"Right." He let out a sigh and stared at the phone. The other end of the phone was dead silent.

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A/N: Well, what do you think? I thought I'd leave you at a cliff hanger for this chapter. If you want to find out why there isn't any sound on the other line then read the next chapter which will be up ASAP…until then R & R ya'll…


	2. A Car With Black Windows

**This chapter is called: **A Car with Black Windows (shitty title huh?)

**A/N: **Well, I hope you like this chapter. It's a little bit better than the first I think. Well, bring on the blood!

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"Ryoko? Ryoko are you there?" There was a long pause. Kousuke feared that at any moment he would hear the dial tone noting that Ryoko was no longer on her phone. And given the situation that would mean that she was either no longer alive or not where she was, or she was just pissed off at him or simply done speaking. He feared the worst. "Hello?" He hated how desperate his voice sounded at that moment.

"Yeah? I'm still here." Kousuke let out a sigh of relief.

"Why were you so quiet?" Again there was a long pause. "Would you stop with that already, Ryoko. You make me worried that you've been murdered when your still there and it pisses me off." He heard Ryoko let out a short dismal noise that sounded something like an oh and an uh mixed together….like an "ouh."

"It's just, I can't shake the feeling that someone's watching me. It's like they're there, but they're not. And I just saw that car again." Ryoko's voice was a little bit shaky, but she covered it well.

"Are you sure it's the same one?"

"Not really." She let out a long sigh. And then there was another pause. Just as Kousuke opened his mouth to speak the phone line was cut off. The dial tone did appear and Kousuke was afraid. Ryoko hadn't hung up her phone for no reason…something happened. _Maybe she just ran too far away and lost connection. _He told himself, trying to sustain his fear why he threw on some clothes. He was worried about Ryoko, but not enough to run out of his apartment clad only in his boxers. He knew that she had been in front of his apartment building only five minutes ago so she couldn't be too far.

Finally he had all of the clothes on that he needed; forgetting shoes and socks, and not bothering to put on his jacket although it was still a little bit cool in the mornings. If Ryoko was in danger and he could help her then it was worth catching a cold or a few Goosebumps.

Just as he opened his door to leave, a terrified Ryoko came running in. She nearly ran him over as she pushed him aside rather violently and slammed the door shut and locked it. Ryoko held all of her weight against that door as if expecting someone or something to try to break it down. Kousuke knew that even if it was a hunter, they wouldn't try to murder one of their preys in a populated area. That was too risky for them.

For a moment everything was still. Ryoko stood with both arms pressing against the door, along with one bent knee facing towards it, and the other leg was stretched out behind her. That's when Kousuke noticed how dirty she was. It was almost as if she had been rolling around on the ground. He also noticed that there was a steady flow of blood running down the back of her outstretched leg from beneath her running shorts that made a small pool on his carpeted floor. He knew he would have to pay to get that fixed, or attempt to get the stain out himself, but he didn't care. He also didn't care that there was another pool of blood developing in the shadow of Ryoko's arm. She had either been shot, or hit by a car. But he knew that Ryoko was in no condition to answer to him.

Daringly he reached out and touched Ryoko's shoulder causing her to jump. He knew at once that she was not okay. Something was terribly wrong. But then again that was obvious by the blood running from her wounds and the fact that she had been stalked by a hunter or just a mad man in a car.

"Ryoko, are you going to be alright?" He heard her mumble something, and then watched wordlessly as she let her arms slowly drop from the door and stood on her own. She knew that no one was outside of it. She turned to look at him, her face was a dirty and had a few scratches but not really all that bad. She wavered a bit, and then let her knees crumble beneath her so she could rest.

"So much for a ten mile jog," she said out loud. "Kousuke, get me some bandages and something to eat." Once again she was back to her regular old self. "And a wet cloth or something…" Kousuke nodded and walked away from her as he walked over to his nightstand where he kept his first aide kit. He always wound up bloodied for one reason or another and Ryoko had practically forced him to buy one so he would bothering her and Eyes for bandages because he was too poor or too lazy to go out and buy his own.

Kousuke dropped the bandages and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide along with a bag of cotton balls on the floor by Ryoko and walked off to get the wet cloth that she had demanded.

"I've never been good at taking care of the wounded so you'll have to what you can on your own," he said as he handed her the damp cloth. Ryoko sighed and nodded as she began to wipe the blood from the back of her leg and the best she could get off her shoe.

"I need a bigger towel, Kousuke," she said as she dropped the used cloth on the floor. Kousuke nodded and then left the room once again only to return with two wet hand towels. Handing them to Ryoko, he eyed her carefully as he watched her wipe the remaining smears of blood off her leg.

For a moment she paused and held the towel in one place while the other hand grasped for one of the bandages.

"Wait a second," Kousuke said. "If you don't use that peroxide, your cuts will get infected." He said it in a smart aleck tone as if he were mocking the poor injured girl. "Here." Kousuke opened the bottle of peroxide and took out of the cotton balls from the bag. He placed it tightly over the mouth of the bottle and tipped it upside down so he could soak the cotton fluff with the liquid. Carefully he set down the bottle a few feet from himself putting the lid on top of it and not bothering to tighten it.

Carefully, almost as if he were a doctor, he pulled the bloodied towel away from the wound so he could cover it with the liquid that was absorbed into the cotton fluff. Once the liquid made contact with the bloody wound it fizzed into a white foam which signified that the liquid was doing its job to kill all germs and parasites. Kousuke pulled the, now red, cotton ball away and tossed it carelessly across the room.

"I'm not expert at bandaging," Kousuke said as he handed her the long white strip of gauze. Ryoko let out a dismal sigh and rapped the white material securely around her would. She was sure that once she stood up she was going to kick the jerk in the head. Not only did he cause her to loose more blood from the wound, but he took the liberty to apply the peroxide to the wound on the back of her upper thigh. She could just imagine the thoughts going through his mind.

Kousuke noted that it wasn't a bullet hole in her leg thankfully, but just a deep gash that was too imperfect to be from a knife. It looked like she'd taken a bad fall, but that wouldn't explain why she was leaning on the door as if her very life hung in the balance.

She grasped for the other damp towel that sat to the left of her hand and began wiping the blood from her left arm. It was a gash on her elbow that was causing that stream of blood.

Once again Ryoko let the towel drop as she grasped for the bottle of peroxide herself, along with the bag of cotton balls.

Once her fingers graced the side of the bottle it tipped over spilling most of its clear contents onto the carpet.

"God damnit!" she cursed as she leaned forward to pick up the bottle. There was hardly any left in it and her wounded elbow was bleeding again and throbbing with pain. She grasped for the damp towel again while holding the bottle of peroxide between her clenched knees. Once again when all of the blood was cleared she tried to grasp for the bottle, but as soon as her elbow moved it bled again. She would gladly use her other arm, but it wasn't responding very well to her commands.

"Here, let me help," Kousuke grabbed the bottle from between her knees and grabbed another cotton ball. Once again he spilled the contents into the absorbing fluff and applied it to her wound. This time it stung as it made contact and the fizz was worse. Kousuke tossed the fluff aside only to grab another one to fill with the peroxide and apply to the wound again.

This time Kousuke took the liberty to put on the bandage knowing very well that Ryoko was incapable of it on her own. Once finished he picked up the unused cotton balls and bandages along with the bottle of peroxide and took the back over to his nightstand. The white cap for the bottle still lay on the floor by Ryoko's feet.

She leaned up against the door and let out a sigh of relief. The wounds would eventually stop bleeding if she sat still long enough.

"So would you like to tell me what happened?" Kousuke asked as he handed yet another wet towel to the wounded girl. She sighed and began wiping dirt and thin lines of dried blood off of her face. The damp coldness felt good and refreshing.

"No, but I doubt you'll let me leave if I don't," Ryoko said into the towel. It was almost indecipherable, and Kousuke took a moment to try and understand it.

"Well, you sure know me. But I'm not going to let you walk home alone for sure." Ryoko managed a small laugh.

"Alright, let's just say I was jogging and talking to you as you should know, and I thought I saw that car. Well, while I stopped for a moment to think, some guy came up behind me. He tried to grab me, but slipped out of his grasp somehow, and he had something sharp on his clothes and that's what cut up the back of my leg. Then when I tried to run off her grabbed the back of my shirt and I pulled forward a little too hard and fell forward, and that's how I busted open my elbow. I didn't get to see the man's face, but of course he attracted some attention so he ran off. But then that car started coming back my way and I ran. And I came here." Ryoko inhaled deeply and held it for a moment before letting it slowly seep out from between lightly parted lips.

"And I bet you didn't need any help huh?" Kousuke asked sarcastically giving the girl a smile.

"Nope. I just needed a place to stay incase they came back."

"You weren't scared either were you?" For a moment their eyes met, but that contact was broken when Ryoko closed her eyes and put her "good" arm behind her head to stretch and let out a quiet yawn before she let it fall to her side.

"Nope."

"Whatever." Kousuke let out a long sigh and then walked over to the window. He looked outside and scanned the area for the black car that Ryoko had said was following her. Just as he was about to give up and pull the curtain closed again he spotted a black car with every window tinted black. It could just be some random passerby's car, but judging how slowly it was going, it was a hunter. _He must be desperate to make a scene in front of all these people…_Kousuke thought as he watched the car go past. _I wonder how many times he's circled the block. Sooner or later someone's going to get nervous and call the cops if he insists on going around and around and around like that, especially if someone has a little child outside playing in the yard._

"Kousuke, what are you looking at?" Quickly he turned around and shut the curtains quickly. Ryoko's face bore an expression of worry and curiosity. He knew that he would have to make something up to make it so that she didn't worry about the hunters, and he couldn't just say that it was nothing because then she would probably beat it out of him.

"Uh, just a group of freshmen girls from our school walking down the street in string bikinis." Ryoko raised an eyebrow.

"You liar," she said as she stood up from her place on the floor. "Well, I'm gonna go. There's no point staying captive in your apartment if there's only girls in bikinis outside." She turned the doorknob and pushed open the door, letting herself out into the cold hallway from the warmth of Kousuke's heated apartment.

"Wait a minuet! Ryoko!" Kousuke put a hand on her shoulder in order to delay her departure. "Let me walk with you! I don't want you to get killed this time." Ryoko raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly.

"Don't tell me that you're actually worried about _me,_" Ryoko said with a devious smile. "That's low even for you Kousuke. You of all people should know that I can take care of myself."

"If that's true then why do I have to keep going out and buying you bread?" Kousuke mumbled under his breath. Ryoko blinked a couple of times before a glare accumulated on her face.

"Baka," she said quietly as she started to walk away. "You can walk with me I guess, but you're going to have to keep up." With one quick glance back she winked and then sped off as fast as she could.

"Ryoko!" Kousuke said as he shut and locked his door before quickly followed after her. "Wait up!"

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A/N: Well, like I said, bring on the blood! Hahahaha…well, I hoped you all liked this chapter. I'll post the next one soon. Unlike this one I wasn't working on it in the same day so it may take a while…This ones post was delayed due to a NASCAR race in Michigan…(I was out of state, what can you expect…) Well, I'll post the next chapter ASAP.


	3. Drug Induced Amnesia

**This chapter shall be hence froth known as: **Drug Induced Amnesia

**A/N: **So my fic is a little bit crappy…but I promise I will make it better! Just tell me what to do! BTW in this fic Ryoko is drugged to the point of amnesia…and worst yet…left with Kousuke…

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So she ran, in no particular direction, and no particular destination in mind. She simply ran to enjoy the fact that she was causing the suffering of the redhead who was whining all the while tagging on not too far behind her. For some reason the constant whining was more of a pleasure than a pain to Ryoko. But she couldn't let him know that…

"Stop complaining, Kousuke. You've been through harder workouts than this at school," she said passing him a quick glance back.

"But Ryoko! You're running too fast!" Ryoko rolled her eyes.

"I said that you could come along if you could keep up. So if you can't I'd advise you to go home." Just to be a little more aggravating to her companion, Ryoko gradually sped up.

"Ryoko! This isn't time to be messing around! You could've gotten killed today! And if you run of—" Ryoko cut him off.

"What's done is done, Kousuke. Hunters never try the same thing twice in one day." Neither of the two teens noticed the people that they nearly ran over top of, nor did they notice that they had passed Hiyono, who was coming out of a grocery store with Ayumu, just as Ryoko had said the word "hunters." This, naturally, got Hiyono's attention so she, naturally, followed after the two. Ayumu took Hiyono's moment of distraction to head casually home.

"Hey Ryoko, wait up!" Hiyono called after her. Noting that the voice she was hearing was different than the one that was usually calling after her she stopped, sliding a few feet. Once she saw exactly who was calling to her, she wished that she never had.

Ignoring that small fact for a moment Ryoko put out one arm to her right side where her tag along was quickly coming from. Kousuke only noticed that Ryoko had stopped when her was three feet away from her hand. Skidding to an uneasy stop, and consequently falling backwards to escape colliding with Ryoko's hand, Kousuke was finally no longer in motion.

"Personal space, Kousuke," Ryoko said as she lowered her hand. "What's up, Hiyono?"

"I thought I heard you say something about a hunter. Is that what you're running away from?" Hiyono asked, momentarily glancing around. "Hm, where did Ayumu go? Oh well…"

"No, I was running from Kousuke. But if I was running from a hunter, I wouldn't have stopped. And Kousuke would probably not be so far behind me." Ryoko glanced at the crimson haired boy as his emerald eyes glanced coldly at her.

"But what was this talk about hunters?" Both of the Blade Children knew that no matter what Hiyono had to get the info that she wanted or else she would never leave them alone.

Ryoko spoke again.

"There was a hunter around this morning and made a failed attempt to kill me." Ryoko let out a small sigh. The last thing she wanted was to get Hiyono poking her nose around and following them around attracting attention to the both of them only to get all three of them killed.

"So that's the deal with all the bandages?" Ryoko's face acquired a blunt look, to put it bluntly.

"No, Kousuke and I just like playing doctor." A small smirk crept onto her face as she turned towards Kousuke. "Isn't that right?" Kousuke shook his head with a smirk as well.

"There's no need to be sarcastic!" Hiyono yelled as she glared at the two.

"Whatever, Hiyoko," Kousuke said with a sigh.

"That's Hiyono!" Said girl yelled as she glared at the boy. "So you were attacked by a hunter? How did you get away?" Hiyono looked at the two quizzically.

"They weren't paying very close attention to what they were doing and I managed to get away from them," Ryoko said as she glared at the girl. "It was nice talking to you, but there's somewhere I need to be." With that Ryoko took off in the direction that she was previously going in. Kousuke followed closely, but not _too_ closely behind. Both blade children knew that if he wanted too, Kousuke would've caught up with her in a matter of seconds, but for how long neither of them was sure.

"That, Hiyoko girl is going to get us both caught if she doesn't quit asking questions about hunters and being caught in public. We don't know many faces of hunters, but they could be everywhere, and some of them don't know what all of the blade children look like," Kousuke stated as he stared at the girl in front of him.

"No, Kousuke, it's you that's going to get us caught. Talking about that girl who talks about us." For a moment Ryoko's voice was a slur, but Kousuke thought nothing of it. He was too wrapped up trying to decipher what Ryoko was saying. That sentence barely made any sense. "Kousuke, I-I don't feel too good. I think I'm going to walk now." So as she'd stated, Ryoko slowed to a walk. That's when Kousuke knew that _something _was wrong.

When Ryoko had started walking she kind of swayed ever so slightly, like she was a blade of grass in the breeze. It seemed almost as if she was drunk, and to anyone who might be watching that would be the first thought to come to their mind, but Kousuke knew otherwise.

Those hunters had drugged her, hoping that it would affect her instantly although, thankfully, it didn't.

"So Kousuke, where are we going again?" Ryoko asked as she stopped to turn and look at the boy while leaning dangerously to the right.

"I don't know, Ryoko, I guessed that we were going back to my apartment once you got done running." Although it sounded extremely wrong, Kousuke was the only one that noticed (he just didn't want to leave her at home where she was unsafe.) Ryoko was too far off her rocker to comprehend much of anything at the moment. She was on a very strong sedative and could probably only remember names and dates at that precise moment, or at least that's how it seemed.

"Okay, so where do you live again? I don't think I've been there before." Ryoko stared at him blankly, her pupils a lot larger than they should be for a blade child.

Kousuke let out a sigh and grabbed Ryoko's wrist.

"It's this way." HE tugged on her hand and she followed behind. Kousuke prayed that Hiyono would be gone so he wouldn't get stopped by her, and he also wished beyond belief that no one from their school would see. He knew that both he _and _Ryoko would never hear the end of it. He knew his reputation wouldn't be harmed at all, but Ryoko's…

"Hey, redhead guy?" O_h great, now she forgot my name_, Kousuke thought."Why am I all wrapped up like a mummy?" He let out a long sigh and looked back at the girl whose pupils had gotten larger indicating that she was officially drugged….

"My name is Kousuke, Ryoko. And you are in bandages because you got hurt." For some reason Kousuke felt like he was talking to a five year old. At least that's how Ryoko was acting.

"So, Kousuke Ryoko—"

"It's just Kousuke, you're Ryoko!" Kousuke turned around and tugged on her hand again.

"Oh. Hey that hurt!" Kousuke felt Ryoko jerk her hand away, and just as he turned to look back at her he got kicked in the mouth. "You're mean!"

"I'm sorry," Kousuke said, not liking to apologize to Ryoko, but knew that if he didn't she was going to turn around and run off. And in the condition that she was in, that was not a very good thing for her to do.

"You don't look like the kind to apologize, you know." Shen and Kousuke continued walking, Kousuke no longer having to pull on Ryoko's hand was glad that she silently agreed to walk by his side. "You said I got hurt, Kousuke, how?" She looked at him with her large eyes. She looked so much younger like that.

"You were running…" Kousuke was debating over whether or not he should tell her the truth. _Aw hell, she's went through her whole life knowing that she was hunted and cursed, why not just give her a happy story to live in for a while._ "And you saw these kids picking on a stray dog—"

"Do I like dogs?" Ryoko blinked once as she awaited her answer and the rest of the story.

"Yes," although that really was a lie. "So you went over to help the dog and these kids attacked you. Then the dog attacked them and you thanked it and it ran away." The story was cheesy, but Kousuke wasn't good at making up happy stories.

"Why don't I remember this?" Ryoko asked as a glare attempted to cross her face.

"Because the kids had a bat and they hit you over the head." Kousuke finally got a tragedy into his story. Tragedy was so easy for a blade child to speak of.

"Then why doesn't my head hurt?" _Damnit, why does she have to be so difficult? I should just tell her the truth…  
_

"Alright you caught me. You were attacked by mad men and they had knives and they stabbed you which is why you're bleeding and you were drugged by them which is why you can't remember!" Kousuke expected her to be mad at him for lying, but she didn't comment.

"Hey Kousuke?"

"What?" Ryoko had a strange look on her face, like she was pondering over whether or not something she remembered was true.

"Are you my boyfriend?" There it was, the cause of that expression on her face. Why was this such a hard question to answer? The truth was no, but what if this Ryoko did like him that way even though she barely knew him? He knew very well that he liked her, but he wasn't sure if it was that much affection.

"Sure, why not?" He said sarcastically shrugging his shoulders.

"Then shouldn't we hold hands or something?" With that said Ryoko reached for Kousuke's hand, but he pulled away and stuffed it into his coat pocket.

"Nah, I don't like doing that." Kousuke gave her a blank look and she tilted her head slightly.

"So how much father away is your penthouse?" Kousuke snapped all of his attention on to that.

"What?" Ryoko looked at him as if he were stupid.

"I said "how much farther is it to your penthouse?' You know, with the piano and the glass walls." Kousuke's eye twitched. She's gotten him mixed up with Eyes.

"No, I just live in an apartment, you're thinking of Eyes' place." Ignoring her for the moment Kousuke allowed himself to momentarily drift off into his thoughts.

"Eyes? You mean the piano player? How long has he been in China?" _China! What the hell did they give her? _

"Ryoko, this is Japan." Ryoko blinked twice.

"Oh, yeah that's right! Osaka, Japan." She laughed slightly. "I forgot." She smiled at him childishly. "I can't wait to see your apartment! Does it have a window?" _A window? Duh, of course it has a window ditz…_

"Yup, two of them." Ryoko let out a sigh as if she was displeased. "And a bed, bookshelf, TV, a closet, a lamp, a kitchen, a bathroom…" Ryoko started laughing.

"Well those are the essentials! What about cups and plates and bowls and spoons and forks?"

"Yup, I have those too." At first it was cute, Ryoko being drugged and confused, but now it was just becoming annoying. Amnesia was one thing, commonsense was another. Even Sayoko had commonsense.

"I like this sidewalk," Ryoko said as she stared at her feet.

"Okay then, Ryoko, you do that." _If this is what actually goes through the sane Ryoko's mind I'm worried. _

So after a little while of silence and a lot of random out bursts, Kousuke and Ryoko and finally arrived at Kousuke's apartment. Ryoko jumped up and down at the door leaving Kousuke to wonder what she was expecting. Even though it was rather empty in his apartment, Ryoko seemed to act as if it were a mansion of some sort.

"Look, Kousuke! It's a bed!" Ryoko took no hesitation in running over to the bed and lying down on it. Normally he would've told her to take off her shoes, but at the moment Kousuke decided that it was best to let her do whatever she wanted. Most likely she would fall asleep and sleep the drug away. "You know, beds are used for many things, Kousuke."

Instantly Kousuke felt the need to knock her out with something. He was afraid of what she was going to state.

"Sleeping, laying in when you're sick, eating in when you are being treated to breakfast in bed, hiding in, laying in when you're too scared to move, crying in…the list goes on and on." Kousuke was grateful that she didn't say what he thought she was about to say, what with her thinking that she was his girlfriend.

Ryoko crawled under the covers of the bed covering every inch of her body.

"Your apartment is cold," she said. _It must be the drug talking,_ Kousuke thought as he stared at the lump in his bed. "Beds are also a place where couples keep each other warm…and I'm cold." Kousuke began to wonder if her intentions were innocent like a child's, or were they devious like some of the other seventeen-year-old girls that attended Tsukiomi Academy. "Kousuke! Please? It's really cold in here." Ryoko didn't even bother to uncover her head when she spoke to him.

"Fine," Kousuke said as he slipped off his shoes. Debating over whether or not her should dare trust himself to go under the covers with her or not he chose to stay on top of them incase Ryoko did snap out of her drug induced trance.

After all, it would be safer that way.

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**A/N: **Well, I hope you liked this chapter, it was a comic relief for you all to reflect on during the later more tragic chapters that are yet to come! BWAHAHAHAHA! SUFFER MY FANFICTION SPIRAL BARBIE DOLLS (God I hate Barbie…) Well Review if anything rating I don't really worry about…until next time, bye-bye


	4. Alibi

**This chapter will be forever known as: **Alibi

**A/N: **Okay, Ryoko gets taken away in this chapter and Hiyono and Kousuke are the only suspects…lets find out what happens shall we?

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Slowly amber eyes opened. Ryoko took a moment to grasp what was going on and where she was. Why was she in Kousuke's apartment? And why of all places was she in his bed? Then she began to wonder why there was something behind her. Something heavy. What was it?

She was stuck under the covers and could barely maneuver. Why was that? Painfully she turned around and stared in horror at Kousuke who seemed to be in a deep sleep. She wanted to scream but couldn't, she wanted to kick to shove him away from her but the blankets were too tight around her and she could barely move.

Finally she found her words and wasn't afraid to use them.

"Kousuke! What the hell are you doing?" Her sudden outburst awoke Kousuke very quickly. He wore a look of surprise while hers wore nothing but anger and rage. "Get away from me! Get—" She violently shoved Kousuke off of the bed and hit the floor with a loud thud.

"Well I can see that you're back to normal," he said as he stood up.

"What the hell were you doing? Answer me!" Ryoko jumped out of the bed scanning all of herself and then the floors.

"It's not my fault! You're the one that let the hunters drug you." Once again he was rambling…

"What are you talking about?" Ryoko still had an angry expression on her face and had her arms across her chest.

"You were fine after we left the house, do you remember that much?" Ryoko nodded with her expression still in a glare. "Well, after we stopped to talk to Hiyono you seemed to forget everything. You kept asking where we were going and what was going on. Thos hunters drugged you for one reason or the other. Maybe to keep you still when they were trying to attack you, or maybe they let you go on purpose thinking that it was going to kill you. But either way it wasn't safe for you to be out on the streets or for you to go home so I took you back here." Kousuke blinked a couple of times and Ryoko's glare hardened.

"And then what?" Ryoko asked as she glared coldly at him.

"Well, you got in the door and jumped under the covers of the bed and claimed that you were cold and directed me to keep you warm. Don't like it that's your problem. You were acting like a five-year-old."

"Why is that so hard to believe coming from you," Ryoko said letting her glare drop. She knew that her previous assumption wasn't correct and was more than happy about that. "Well either way I'm hungry so get me some bread…NOW!" Ryoko sent a kick for his head, but thankfully he moved out of her way not a second too soon.

"Alright, alright, geez. Just stay put, alright? I don't want the hunters to figure out where you are." With that Kousuke put on his shoes and then walked out of the apartment, locking the door behind him.

"That better be the whole truth, Kousuke. I'd kill you if I found out something else." Finding herself bored, Ryoko walked around the apartment straightening things up, starting with the bed which she had practically dismantled in her fit to get Kousuke away from her. She was rather surprised at how filthy Kousuke left his apartment. How could he live in this filth?

After about ten minutes the though that Kousuke might get attacked by the hunters while he was out getting her food. What if they killed him because he couldn't get away? That wouldn't be a very good thing…

She continued working silently. Her thoughts on what her future would be like if Kousuke were to die that day, but it wasn't him that she would be worried about. It was her safety that was in jeopardy.

So she continued cleaning…not taking notice of anything…at all…complete and utter silence filled the apartment, but Ryoko didn't notice. But she did notice when there came a sharp knock on the door.

"Don't tell me he locked himself out," Ryoko said to herself she walked towards the door. She didn't bother looking thorough the peephole in the door, although it would've been a very wise thing to do. "Kousuke, how stu—" She was preparing to insult the redheaded teen when she realized that it was not him at all. It was her hunters. The exact same ones that had targeted her before.

She attempted to slam the door as fast as she could but one of the larger men stepped into the doorway and held it open. So, knowing that she couldn't hope to break free of their human barricade in the door way, and she had no hope of survival if she jumped out of the window, she did the next best thing.

She screamed.

She screamed very loud.

She screamed so loud that it wouldn't be surprising if everyone in the apartment complex heard her.

As the hunters burst into action trying to attack her, she did the best she could to fight them off using her kicks and her speed as her leverage. She'd almost made it to the door when something heavy came down on the back of her head knocking her out instantly.

She had been caught by the hunters. But why didn't they just kill her? That was her last thought as she fell to the ground, halfway to freedom and the other half trapped inside the house with her hunters. (A/N: Basically saying she passed out half way out of the doorway)

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Meanwhile Kousuke was leaving the store where he always bought Ryoko's bread. He didn't know that anything was wrong until he made it to the front of his apartment building. There was a blood trail leading from the front door all the way the curb.

He knew what that blood was from.

He ran to his apartment as quickly as he could, not stopping to apologize to the people he was nearly running over. Once he came to his door his heart sank. The door was open and as expected, Ryoko was no where in sight.

In a few seconds he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see a police officer staring at him with somewhat rage in his eyes. As if accusing Kousuke of something.

"Sir, we've received over a dozen calls that they heard a woman's scream coming from your apartment, and when we questioned a few people they claimed that they had seen you bring a young girl around the age of sixteen or seventeen into your apartment by the name of Ryoko Takamachi."

"Yes, she's my friend from school. She was attacked this morning by some goons driving a black car and she came here on her own all cut up and bleeding because she had been stabbed. I took care of her a little bit and then she said she wanted to leave. I didn't want to let her go on her own so I walked with her. We talked to a friend for a minute and then when we started walking again she started forgetting things. Like where we were going and after a few minutes who I was. I knew that she'd been drugged by those people and they'd either expected her to get knocked out instantly or something like that."

"And then what? Why did she come back to the apartment?"

"I didn't feel that it would be safe for her to be on her own in the state that she was in, her house is unoccupied this time of the day, so I found it safer if she stayed at my apartment until she was better. She was acting like a little child all giddy and carefree and as soon she got in the apartment she climbed into the bed and went to sleep." Kousuke took a breath and then continued. "After about two hours she woke up and was back to normal and asked me why she was there and basically freaked out."

"And that's when she screamed?" The officer asked as he paused from writing his notes.

"No, she's a friend of mine and I normally buy her lunch so she asked me if I could get her something to eat and I agreed. I told her to stay here because I didn't think that she was stable enough to go out in the open with those people still out there looking for her. They'd been following her for a while because earlier she had called me telling me that she felt that a black car kept following her. And she hung up abruptly and then when I went to look for her that's when she first came to the apartment."

"Alright, sir. And was your house unlocked when you left her here alone?"

"No, when I left I locked the door behind me. I'm guessing that the people who took her knocked on the door first checking to see if she was there and she might have thought it was me and answered it."

"And you are assuming that she was kidnapped?" Kousuke was getting annoyed now. Why else would she have screamed? It wasn't that surprising if you could open a door.

"Yes. I could find no other reason for her to be yelling." Kousuke stared at the officer straight in the eyes.

"Is it a possibility that she maybe saw a rat or spider that caused her to scream?"

"Ryoko isn't afraid of that sort of thing."

"But are you sure that she was taken?" The officer continued writing notes.

"Judging by the blood leading from the front door to the curb then, yes." Kousuke looked the officer square in the eye. He had a deceptive attitude about him, and the officer wasn't sure if he was innocent in this situation at all. He did have a good alibi, and some of the witnesses had claimed that the girl had come to the apartment and ran out of the building smiling with the boy following after, almost as if it were a game. But he had said they'd 'walked' together.

"The first time the victim left the building to head home or wherever it was that you were going were you walking, or running, or did you have some other form of transportation?" The officer looked up from his notepad.

"We were running. Ryoko is a high school track star. She loves to run and I suggested that I walk her home to make sure she got their safely. She was against it, but made a deal that if I could keep up with her I could tag along. Of course I agreed to her terms." The officer jotted down that note before speaking.

"One more thing. Who was the friend that you two stopped to talk to?" Kousuke knew that he didn't want to drag Hiyono into this, but he was aware that he had no other choice.

"Hiyono Yuizaki." Kousuke looked away from the officer, obviously giving off a hint of deceit.

"And do you know where we can find her?" The officer looked at him intently suspicious.

"No. But if I could take a guess I would say that if you find Ayumu Narumi she won't be too far away." Kousuke allowed a smirk to cross his face. "Is that all you needed, because I don't have anymore information." The officer shook his head and turned to leave.

Before he left he asked one last question, naturally going against his word.

"These people who kidnapped your friend, do you have any clue as to who they might be?"

"No." Kousuke watched the officer leave and then slammed the door shut behind him. Finally he could let his emotions loose. You can't act worried in front of an officer if your being interrogated. They will suspect you, you have to stay calm as if you couldn't care less about what happens to you. But you must show some concern, and only answer the questions they ask. Never give them more or they will instantly assume you as the culprit. He knew very well that he was the only suspect. And if nothing else turns up, he is guilty.

For a moment Kousuke stood still, letting his though incase him in a dreamlike state. Where would the hunters take her? It was obvious that she was being used as bate for him and the others or they would've just killed her before.

Letting out a frustrated sigh at the thought of the hunters toying with him and probably doing unspeakable things to Ryoko. Tortures in many different ways. She was assuredly not safe or comfortable in anyway. She would be scared, perhaps for her life, but more or less his and anyone else who she fears might come to her assistance. And most likely she was angry at the thought that if someone did come to help her and died, it would be like she was the one who killed them. That would destroy her, Kousuke knew that for a fact.

It was then that he noticed it. In a rage he broke free from his thoughts to find some way to vent his rage. He spotted a lamp and went for it. Taking it in his grasp he tossed it at the door where he knew the hunters were standing as they took _his _Ryoko away.

Watching the glass shatter he felt instantly relieved of some of his tension. He sat down on his bed and cradled his head in his hands as he thought of some way to get Ryoko back. Not even half an hour ago he was sleeping next to her while she was passed out from the drugs that the hunters had slipped her, and not twenty minutes ago he had nearly been kicked in the head by Ryoko as she thought that he was keeping a dirty little secret from her. And not fifteen minutes ago he had left her in the apartment all by herself when he knew that it would've been safer for her to just come along.

It was his fault that she was gone.

_So she cleaned a little while I was gone. _Kousuke thought as he looked at the made up bed and the nicely dusted nightstand that sat next to it. _She must've gotten bored. Damnit, why did I leave her here alone? She was perfectly fine. I could've taken her along. I'm sure she would've refused, but eventually I would've been able to persuade her into it. I should've never let her leave the apartment in the first place. I should've kept her here until I was sure that nothing bad was going to happen. I could've stopped this whole thing from happening…but I didn't._

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Meanwhile on the other side of town the officer had called Madoka to see if she knew about the whereabouts of her brother in law or his suspected girlfriend Hiyono Yuizaki. She told him that Ayumu and the girl were to meet up at some restaurant near the edge of town for lunch, Ayumu's treat of course. The officer thanked her and asked for a physical description of said girl and boy. After getting it he hung up the phone and set off to check out all of the restaurants on the edge of town.

In about ten minutes the officer had found the two people who fit the description. Girl with long blonde hair kept in loose braids and a male brunette with wild hair and a pierced ear.

The officer approached the two and addressed the girl.

"Hiyono Yuizaki I assume?" The girl nodded.

"Is there a problem officer?" Hiyono played her innocent bid and Ayumu just watched.

"I'd like you to answer a few questions about a missing person." The officer looked at her and ten his eyes traced over Ayumu before returning to her.

"A missing person?" Hiyono blinked and looked at the officer.

"She goes by the name of Ryoko Takamachi and was last seen with a boy named Kousuke Asazuki. Are you familiar with either of the two?" Hiyono nodded.

"They're my friends from school." Hiyono was worried and it showed. _So the hunters got Ryoko. _She thought. _I wonder what Kousuke did when he found out. _

"According to Asazuki they'd left his apartment heading for Ryoko's house when they stopped to talk to you. Is this true." The officer eyed her.

"Yes, they seemed to be in a hurry actually." Hiyono began rummaging trough her memory.

"May I ask what was said in your conversation?" The officer pulled out his notepad and jotted down that the girl had indeed talked with the two before the girl's disappearance.

Knowing that she couldn't tell the officer about the hunters so she just referred to them as strange people.

"Well, I asked them why Ryoko was in bandages and she had said that earlier that day when she was out for a morning run she had seen this black car that appeared to be following her and that she had been attacked by a group of strange people, but had managed to get away only getting cut with a knife that one of them was holding. She went to Kousuke's apartment where he'd taken care of her wounds. Then they ran off in the direction that they were previously heading like nothing was wrong." Hiyono thought for a moment making sure that she didn't leave anything out. "I don't know what happened after that. I stopped at Ayumu's apartment so we could go to lunch."

The officer finished jotting down his notes.

"Are you sure that that is all you know? Was Asazuki acting different than usual, edgy or worried?" Hiyono nodded.

"It was obvious that he was worried about Ryoko, but I don't really think that he would do such a thing to her. They have a past it's obvious, but I know nothing about it. They seem like close friends and they're always looking out for one another. If it helps at all, Ryoko has been attacked by strange people before. She's quite popular at our school. She's the schools track star." Hiyono silenced herself before she gave out too much information. But she knew that if she didn't say something they were going to try to pin this on either her or Kousuke because they were the only suspects that the police had.

"Can you give me any names of people that you might suspect?" Hiyono shook her head.

"No." Hiyono looked at Ayumu noticing that he was deep in thought already thinking about the hunters and what they were up to.

"Thank you for your information." The officer turned and walked away looking at his notes.

"So Ryoko let her guard down and got kidnapped," Ayumu said as he stared at the ground. "I just wish that we knew more about what happened. She must've been separated from Kousuke judging by the fact that he wouldn't let anything harm her without a fight. Obviously he must've been away from her. Perhaps he'd even left her at her house."

"I don't know," Hiyono said. "Do you think we might be able to get the information from Kousuke?"

"I doubt that he wants us to get involved, he likes to work alone with the help of the other blade children. He's probably already pissed because someone called the cops about it." Hiyono nodded and allowed herself to slip away into thought. The hunters wanted more than just Ryoko. They wanted all of the blade children that they could get. And Hiyono knew that they were going to get Kousuke if any of the others.

He just loved her too much…

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**A/N: **Well, what do you think? Tragic enough? Wondering what happened to Ryoko? Well, this is my longest chapter yet, 8 pages normally I only have 5 or 6…Well, just so you know Ryoko isn't dead…yet….want a little secret? Scroll down if so…

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I plan to let you readers decide how my fic ends…whether you want a happy ending or a tragic ending. Start sending me your messages of what you want, write tragic or happy okay? Thank you for your time, feel free to post reviews thank you for reading…bye-bye now…


	5. Weeping Hollow

**Here ye here ye the:** Weeping Hollow **Trial is now in session**

**A/N: **This chapter won't be very long. It just shows you what is happening to Ryoko while she is being held hostage by the savage hunters…bwahahahaha

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Ryoko awoke with a sharp headache. She was in an unfamiliar room in an unfamiliar place. Her memory came rushing back to her and she knew that she was with the hunters. But if their intention was to use her as bait then why were they treating her so well?

She awoke in a fancy room, not high-class, but well furnished for that. She was laying on a large red couch that was actually quite comfortable, and the walls of this room were painted a vibrant yellow that brightened up the dark wooden floors. There was a coffee table in front of her that sat on a decorative red rug that seemed to match the couch. On this coffee table there was a glass of water and a bowl of some sort of soup.

_Most likely poison, _Ryoko thought as she sat up. _No, they're using me so it's probably not tampered with. I am thirsty and that water would be a blessing, but I still don't trust it. _Ryoko let out a sigh and scanned the room. The window on the other side of the room was open and there was a gentle breeze blowing the curtains. _There's probably some sort of booby-trap over there. I know how hunters like to play. But, it is worth a try. _

So she stood up and walked over towards the window. She staggered like a drunkard, but eventually she obtained her balance. She walked carefully and slowly scanning the ground with each step assuring herself that it was safe.

She made it all of the way to the window and still nothing had happened. She looked over the windowsill and everywhere around it carefully and found no traps, no trip wires of any sorts or lasers. It was just an empty room.

Carefully she leaned out the open window to see what there was beneath.

Gasping she stared at the long drop off, almost one hundred and twenty feet to where a series of sharp, metal spikes stuck out of the ground held in place by a cement plack. Each spike was at least six feet tall, and to anyone on the land they looked like a decoration. The hunters used this room often it seemed. Those spikes weren't brand new. They were old and a little bit rusted.

"Enjoying the view?" Said a voice from behind her.

Ryoko turned around quickly. If this hunter were to attack her she would have no where to run. She was a sitting duck. There was nothing to grip onto outside of the house where she could climb down and to jump would mean landing on those spikes and bringing an end to her life. She wasn't sure why she was worried about that now. She knew that she was going to die anyway.

"Well, now that you're awake we can finally put you to use," said a man with light brown hair and icy blue eyes. Ryoko glared at him, secretly wondering what he meant by that. His sentence could've meant a million different things.

Instead of questioning his sentence like he'd expected, Ryoko remained completely silent. This didn't seem to agitate the hunter at all. Instead he smirked at her.

"I don't think you'll try to run off if I put you to work will you?" Ryoko still didn't say a word. Her cold stare was fixated on this hunter. "I didn't think so. Right this way."

The hunter violently grabbed Ryoko's wrist and pulled her towards the door. She was a little off balance from the sudden motion and had a little bit of trouble keeping up with the hunter's fast-pace walking. She wondered exactly what kind of _work _he had in mind. You never knew with hunters.

"The others and I noticed that you cleaned up that boy's apartment pretty well. Isn't that right?" The hunter looked back at Ryoko who had gained her footing now. For a moment she thought of not responding, but noticing that his face became more and more cruel she decided to answer.

"I got bored," She said bluntly.

"Is that right? Well, we could use someone else to help his angel clean." _His angel? _Ryoko thought. _What does he mean by that? Who is 'he?'_

The hunter stopped pulling her when he reached a large wooden door. He pulled out a key and stuck it in the lock, twisting until he heard a quiet click. He stuffed the key into his pocket and swung the door open with great force.

It was indeed a very heavy door.

Once inside Ryoko noticed that this was a corridor, not a room at all. The hunter pulled the door shut behind them and continued pulling Ryoko along.

There was a sound that Ryoko heard besides the sounds of her breathing and their footsteps along with the silence of her thoughts. At first it was too quiet, too distant to make out what it was or what it was coming from. But the further they got down the corridor she could tell that it was a voice coming from a younger girl. It was either laughter or sobs. It was still too distant to tell. But the closer it came the louder it got.

Ryoko knew that the sound was sobs.

The pitiful noise seemed to swirl all around them in the echoing corridor. Although Ryoko was deeply disturbed by it, the hunter didn't seem to notice it at all. But how could he ignore it. The loud, mournful noise was never ending and so…_so what? _Ryoko thought to herself. _So annoying? No, more or less, but not what I mean. It's so depressing. _Yes, endless and very depressing. Why was that girl crying? Was she one of the blade children too?

But one thing was for sure about this girl…she was _his angel_.

That's when the thought hit her. That sobbing girl. She had to be that hunters daughter. _His _little angel. A lot of fathers called their daughters 'angel' and other little pet names like that.

"You will do whatever she tells you alright? She's younger than you, but here she is _your _boss. Got that?" Ryoko nodded. "Answer me!" The hunter gave her arm a violent jerk forward.

"Yes! I'll do whatever she tells me!" Ryoko glared at the back of the hunters head. Once again the hunter abruptly stopped causing Ryoko to bump into his back. He turned and gave her a sickening grin and Ryoko was afraid. What exactly was he going to do with her?

The hunter had stopped at another door where the sobbing was definitely coming from. Once again he pulled out his key and unlocked the door. It opened to a large white kitchen where a young blonde girl, maybe only twelve or thirteen stood washing dishes.

"I'm not done yet!" Said the girl with a sob following shortly after. "I need a little bit more time, please?" Ryoko saw how desperate the girl looked, and this hunter was smirking at her like it was amusing. _How sick_.

"Don't worry, you have another helper." The hunter forcefully and painfully through the door where causing her to fall onto the cold hard floor. She let out a tiny whimper, but only she could hear it. The girl laughed at her and the hunter smirked as he left the room not forgetting to lock it behind him.

_Great, now we have adolescent hunters, _Ryoko thought as she stood herself up.

"Are you alright?" The girl asked as she returned to washing the dishes which were overflowing one side of the double sided sink and the large counter top beside it. _Like you care…_Ryoko thought bitterly.

"I'm fine. What do you need me to do?" Ryoko stared at the girl with a cold expression.

"I don't really need any help," the girl's voice seemed sincere and not at all bitter or angry. It wasn't mocking her or teasing her. So different than the girl that was smirking at her when she was tossed onto the floor. "But if you want to, you can help me with these dishes. If we get done quicker we might be able to play games. Daddy normally lets me play games with my helpers if we get done early."

Ryoko, knowing better than to ignore the question for help that the girl honestly needed, found another dish rag and soaked it in the soapy water and began cleaning one of the plates that were in the sink. She could tell that the girl was grinning on the other side of her mouth, trying not to show it to Ryoko.

"So what's your name?" Asked the girl. "I'm Akiko, but you can just call me Aki." The girl turned and smiled at her.

"Ryoko. Why were you crying earlier?" Ryoko regretted asking as soon s the words passed her lips. She was thinking out loud.

"Oh, I cut my finger when I was cleaning a knife. It hurt, but it's all better now." The girl smiled at Ryoko and then continued washing the dishes. Ryoko passed Aki the plate to be placed on the drying rack on her side of the sink. "So you're one of the blade children?"

Ryoko nodded.

"I don't care what daddy says, but all of the blade children that I've met seem pretty nice. You know what his plan is don't you?" Aki asked as she looked Ryoko square in the eye. A look of seriousness crossed her face. "He's using you as bate for the others. He won't kill you until at least one other blade child shows up. That's what he always does."

Ryoko lost all trust in the girl after that. There was no way that she would spill her fathers plan. If she had any brain at all she would keep that kind of thing quiet and not speak of it.

"Is that so?" Ryoko handed Aki another plate and started on a bowl.

"Yes. I just hope your friends have the heart to leave you here and not get involved in this." Ryoko's pupils narrowed. What the girl had said was so cold, but yet it was exactly what she was thinking at that moment. She didn't Kousuke or Rio or Eyes trying to save her only to get themselves killed. She wasn't worth that much trouble. "It's not that I'm saying I want you to die. I'm just saying that I know how to get you out of here without you dying."

Ryoko looked at the girl with begging eyes, although she didn't really notice that she was doing it.

"But you're going to have to wash faster than that." Both girls laughed at the joke, although Ryoko did begin to wash faster.

After about ten minuets Ryoko glanced over at the drying rack. There was a place for the silverware and then the place for the cup and finally the other dishes. She was examining the contents while Aki was putting some of the dried dishes away. It was then that she noticed there was no knife in the drying rack. She hadn't thought that that was the reason that she had been crying in the first place, but that gave her the hint that something really was wrong.

"Hey Ryoko?" Aki paused from her work, still holding a large pot in her hands. "Just how many people do you think are going to come after you?" She seemed sad.

"Three, maybe four. But only three would be blade children. Why do you ask?" Ryoko scanned the girl. She was acting suspicious.

"I know this is putting me in danger to save you, but," She set the pot down into its place in the cabinet and pulled something out of her pocket. It was a cell phone. "Here, call your friends and tell them not to come after you. If they come they're going to die. I can get you out of here, Ryoko. You have to believe me!"

The girl was acting very untrustworthy. She was acting innocent, but the hunters could just want to keep her for something else while they go after the others on their own. But the very scary thing was,

Ryoko did believe her…

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**A/N:** Well, what did you think? It was supposed to be a short chapter, but I kind of got carried away waiting for the first episode of Paranoia Agent to download to my computer…it still has a while though lol. I'll just work on chapter 6 till then. I still need help deciding what kind of endings ya'll want. I have one happy, who wants tragedy? Who all wants happy? Now for the shocker, who wants both? Well, Review and enjoy reading other fics or writing your own…byebye


	6. Take My Hand

**We will name our new member: **Take My Hand** as for she does not wish to tell us her real name…**

**A/N: **Well, I hope you are enjoying my fic…I still need votes for you all to tell me what kind of end you want. So far I still only have 1…how sad, how sad, how sad…

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Kousuke was sitting in Eyes' penthouse when it happened. Eyes was playing his piano in silence and Kousuke had just been sitting there lost in thought. Both of them were thinking about a way to get Ryoko back. They both knew very well that the hunters were keeping her alive as bait for them.

Kousuke had been dreaming of a plan to get Ryoko back when his cell phone went off. He nearly jumped from the sudden noise and quickly answered it to make the buzzing sound stop. Although it didn't bother Eyes, it bothered him very much.

"Hello?" Kousuke said to the phone dismally. He knew it was either the police, Hiyono, or Ayumu, and personally he didn't want to talk with any of the names listed.

"Kousuke?" The voice on the other end of the line sounded frail. But Kousuke knew instantly who it was.

"Ryoko! Where are you? Are you hurt?" One thousand more questions raced through Kousuke's mind, but he forced them out. He didn't want to overwhelm her.

"Kousuke, promise me that you won't come look for me. The hunters won't hurt me until you and maybe some others are here. If you don't come after me then no one has to die." Kousuke was panicked. Ryoko was in some hell hole with the hunters and she was asking him not to come after her?

Sure, the hunters won't touch her for a week or two, but once they realize that no one is coming they'll torture her most likely and then kill her. There's no doubt about it.

"Ryoko, I'm not going to let you die. They're going to kill you one way or another!" Kousuke didn't care how desperate his voice got. It didn't matter. He didn't care anymore. He had to get some sense into Ryoko's head before it was too late.

"Let me die, Kousuke. If you and the others come here to save me then you'll all get killed and it will be my fault. I will die knowing that I killed you." Kousuke heard Ryoko let out a sigh. There was another voice in the background, but Kousuke ignored it for a moment longer.

"Ryoko, I can't let you die! I couldn't live knowing that you died when I could've prevented this whole entire thing! If I had left you alone none of this wouldn't have happened. I _won't_ let you die, Ryoko. I'd die." Once again there was that voice in the background.

_Another girl? Is she a blade child?_

"Ryoko, who's there with you?" Kousuke listened intently trying to make out what the other girl was saying. It was no use.

"The daughter of one of the hunters." Ryoko's voice was very dull. He knew that it would tear Ryoko up if he went after her, but wouldn't it hurt more if he didn't? Wouldn't she feel unloved?

"Ryoko, tell me one thing. Are you hurt at all?" Kousuke had his mind set on going after her, there was nothing in this world that could change his mind. But he had to know if Ryoko was being mistreated so he would know how fast he should get to her. Whether or not to take a lot of precautions, or just take everything that he might need and leave as soon as he could.

"I'm fine, Kousuke." It was then that Kousuke could understand what the girl in the background said. And what she'd said was not good news at all.

_Ryoko! Put away the phone, fast. He's coming! _There was a sob from the girl and the loud clanking of what sounded like pans, then a man's voice. _No! _Then Kousuke heard Ryoko call out in pain before there was a loud thud and the line went dead.

Once again he had gotten Ryoko hurt. If he would've just hung up the phone after he's told Ryoko that he wasn't going to let her die she wouldn't have gotten hurt. (She's obviously gotten hurt due to the fact that she called out.)

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"Who were you calling?" The hunter said in a sickening tone as he pinned Ryoko to the floor. "What did you tell them?" When he did not receive an answer the hunter slammed Ryoko on the back of the head with his fist causing her intense pain. Aki cowered in one corner of the large room afraid of what was going to happen. Ryoko knew that she was just trying to help out someone in need, and that Aki was surly to get punished for helping the enemy.

"Ow! I called a friend!" The hunter pulled Ryoko's arm painfully behind her back to keep her from struggling.

"And what did you tell this friend?" The hunter emphasized 'friend' by digging one knee into her back.

"Ah," Ryoko cried out at the pain. "I told my friend not to come after me because you were just going to kill me anyway!" Ryoko jerked hard and managed to get her arm free from the hunter's grasp.

She attempted to crawl away, but failed dismally. He still had her pinned with his leg.

"And you got the phone from my daughter?" The hunter asked as he glanced at the phone that lay four feet in front of the two.

Ryoko made no comment. She didn't want to get Aki in trouble.

"No. At least not by her will." Ryoko turned her head to look at the hunter with an evil smirk on her face. She despised killing, but that didn't mean that she couldn't conjure up an evil look. "See that knife in the sink? It's rather sharp actually. It could easily slice through delicate flesh." The hunter smirked at her.

"You little liar." He slapped Ryoko across the face with the back of his hand. "I know very well that you aren't the type that kills. That's why we picked you to take hostage. You won't give us much trouble."

The hunter let out a sickening laugh that chilled Ryoko to the bone. Something wasn't right here.

"You know, for one of the disgusting blade children, you are rather cute." Ryoko's eyes got wide. She knew what was going through her captive's head. Despite that she prayed that it was anything but that. _Anything_ but that. "Stand up! Stand up!" The hunter grabbed Ryoko's arm and pulled her painfully to her feet. He forced her around to look at him and admired the fear in her eyes.

He knew that he had caused it. But that fear didn't satisfy him. Not the fear, but what he was thinking about doing, what he was planning on doing to this poor defenseless blade child surly would.

Looking into Ryoko's eyes he knew that she knew exactly what he was going to do to her. But not just him. There were three other hunters in this house and they were all lacking female companionship. Something this girl had more than enough of…

"Come on!" The hunter pulled Ryoko painfully and forcefully forward. She instantly jerked away. She didn't care if she died. She was **_not _**going to let him or any other hunters touch her.

Aki watched wordlessly. She did not help Ryoko nor did she help her father. It was almost as if she was watching a sick TV show, or maybe the start of a hentai game. (A/N: Not that I know how they start. I'm just assuming…I find hentai games sick and wrong…my one friend loves them, but he's just weird…anywho…)

"Move your feet!" The hunter jerked Ryoko once again and Ryoko pulled back. She wasn't as strong as he was. Her aspect of strength was in her legs, but she couldn't kick when he kept himself a good distance away from her. "Stop fidgeting!" Ryoko whimpered as she saw another hunter poke his head into the room.

"What's going on in here?" He asked casually.

"Would you quit standing there and help me!" The hunter yelled as Ryoko tried desperately to get Ryoko to mind his words.

"It would be my pleasure," the other hunter said as he grabbed one of Ryoko's arms. He was stronger than the other man and Ryoko knew that she couldn't get away.

While the men were struggling with Ryoko, Aki made a move for her phone. Neither of the two seemed to notice her.

She grabbed the phone and redialed the number that Ryoko had called. She slipped behind a counter so her father and his friend would not see.

The phone rang twice and Aki feared that he would not answer, but then he did. The other blade child answered his phone.

"Ryoko?" said the male voice from the other line. He recognized the phone number and was hoping it was Ryoko.

"You have to help her. Do you know the old apartment complex on the east end of town? The one that has large spikes in the front yard for decoration? Ryoko's in trouble, you have to help her." Aki's voice was heavy with tears while she tried to remain quiet.

"What did you do to Ryoko?" Kousuke yelled as he glared at the glass wall in front of him.

"It's not me, it's my father. I-I think he' going to-to—" It was hard to get the words past her lips and soon she realized that she couldn't say them. She didn't have to. Ryoko's voice was loud and carried far.

"No! Get away from me! Leave me alone!" Ryoko was struggling to break free of the two men's' grasps, but was failing badly. She knew that she wasn't going to get away and that these hunters were going to have their way with her.

"Why don't you help her?" Kousuke yells into the phone. "Can't you hear her? What's happening?" Kousuke was aggravated that he could hear Ryoko's pleads but could do nothing about them. He couldn't save her. He was over a half an hours walk away from her, only ten minuets in a car if the traffic was good. Which it wasn't.

"I can't get them off of her. They're too strong. Please. You have to hurry. They'll kill her when they've had their fun. They don't think you're going to come for her." Kousuke heard Aki sob. "I don't want to kill another blade child!" With that Akiko hung up her cell phone and sobbed quietly into her knees which were pulled up tight against her chest.

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Kousuke stared at his phone for a moment in silence. He knew what was happening to Ryoko. They were going to use her and then murder her like a regular rapist would. She was no longer a blade child to them. She was just a pretty teenage girl inside of their house. Free to use at their disposal because no one is supposed to come and save her.

But they had another thing coming.

"What was that all about?" Eyes asked as he looked at Kousuke. He had stopped playing the piano when the phone rang.

"Those hunters…they're…they're going to rape Ryoko and kill her! That's what that hunter's daughter said!" Kousuke's eyes burned with hate. He would not stand around and let those hunters destroy the heart and soul of _his _Ryoko. Not over his dead body.

"Then don't you think we should do something?" Eyes seemed calm, but it was obvious that he was worried just as much as Kousuke.

"YES!" Kousuke glared at the pianist.

"Well, do you know where she is?" Kousuke nodded.

"The old apartment complex that was just bough about four months ago. The one with the spikes used for decoration. That's the hunters' new playground." Eyes nodded.

"Well then. I guess we should go then."

So Eyes and Kousuke left Eyes' penthouse and haled a taxi. Only ten to fifteen minutes and Kousuke would be on those hunters making sure they keep their distance from his girl. The girl who was convinced for under ten minutes that she was his girlfriend and the girl who had humbly wanted to hold his hand.

Then the question went through his mind.

Why didn't he let her hold his hand?

At least it would've been a nice way to remember what could've been the last time he touched the girl. He'd pulled her wrist and that was the last time that their skin met. If only he had let her hold his hand like she'd wanted. It would've made her happy.

Life was always full of regret…

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**A/N: **I don't really like this chapter. Maybe it's because I'm making hunters do bad things to Ryoko . . Who knows…Poor Kousuke, he is regretting not holding drugged Ryoko's hand. For a spoiler hint, It won't be the last time that he gets the opportunity in this fic…I promise. Well, I still need votes for my happy or tragic endings. Even you people who don't have accounts, review away and I will try to make your dream come true…I'm scaring myself. I'll shut up now…lets see what happens in the next chapter…(chapter 7 begins the countdown buy the way…)


	7. Aftermath

**Here **Aftermath **Come here girl…that's a good fanfic chapter….yes, good fanfic chapter…**

**A/N: **Well, here we go, only two more chapters after this…I hope you are finding some enjoyment in my story, there was a request for Kousuke angst so I will give you all Kousuke angst…I'm not sure how…maybe in the next chapter…please tell me something angsty to put in here tat involves Kousuke…wait…I already have an idea…yes…the last chapter…or this chapter OoOoO a big skip…if I get carried away, which I am…so stop reading my rambling and go enjoy this chapter dang it!

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Amber eyes that had once shown innocence, at least as much as a blade child's eyes could hold, and purity and that were filtered with life and shine were now pale. The luster that they had once had was gone now. There was no shine in those eyes, no spark of life or energy. Pale, lifeless eyes that showed no strength or hope, anymore. They looked just as their owner felt: dead.

Ryoko felt dead. That was the emotion that she felt the most. Sure there was anger, lots of hatred, sadness, abandonment, and shame? Did she feel ashamed?

Yes.

She felt very ashamed. Why hadn't she fought harder? She had more strength then…but she had none now. She felt used and worthless. An ounce of her shame came from the small passing thought of _Why hasn't Kousuke come to rescue me yet?...Why? _She had told him not to come…she was angry with herself for going back on those words. For once Kousuke was listening to her and saving himself.

She didn't care what happened to her anymore, she hadn't cared before. As long as Kousuke was still alive that was all that mattered. She loved him…she could no longer deny it…she had no right to get murdered by hunters and drag him down with her. She was not like that.

"Aw what's the matter, blade child?" Aki's father said as he slipped his shirt back on.

"I think we should give this little pet a name don't you?" said the other man who had helped restrain Ryoko before.

"Yeah…Let's call her Saseko," another hunter chimed in. They all shared a laugh. Ryoko stared lifelessly at the wall in front of her, not moving a muscle in her body although her mind was sprinting through rude comments and foul names to call these men besides hunters.

Here they had stolen the gift that she could only ever give once and they were insulting her like this? Each of them taking their turns with different parts of her body and they were calling _her _a whore? Didn't they find their acts at all _dirty_?

"What? Don't you have a comment on your new name, Saseko?" Aki's father sneered.

Ryoko said nothing. She had never felt a stronger urge to kill someone than what she was feeling right now. _So why don't you kill them? You are one of the blade children after all. It's only natural for you to kill someone, especially hunters. Didn't Kousuke once say that if you fuck with a blade child in the end you're the one who gets screwed? _(A/N: yes I just made that up…it's my fic so I can make them say whatever I want …)

"Answer him damnit!" The originator of the name kicked Ryoko in the back attempting to get a response out of her. She still remained silent.

_I can't kill them…Why can't I give in? I know it's wrong but I want to so badly that it hurts…Why can't I loose my self-control as easily as Kousuke can?_

"Answer!" The other hunter kicked Ryoko in the gut getting a satisfying whimper out of the poor, used girl.

Ryoko finally allowed herself to speak…more or less loosing her pride.

"I-I-I h-hate it," Ryoko stammered. A cruel glare on her face. Her eyes were no longer empty, they now burned with insanity and rage. Just like any other blade child's' would.

"And since when are you so high and mighty!" Aki's father asked as he grabbed Ryoko painfully up by her arm. She hated that man the most. He was the one who took her virginity with a sickening smirk on his face.

Ryoko's clothes were no longer even considered rags. She was practically naked and despite the fact that she was in a room with three guys she didn't even feel embarrassment anymore. She had no room for that emotion. All she felt was hate.

"So you hate the name I gave you?" the other hunter asked getting very close to Ryoko's face. Aki's father dropped his grip and stepped away from the two with a smile. He and the other hunter were waiting to see what was going to happen to their play toy.

"Yes," Ryoko said flatly. Her voice was dripping with anger and pain. Her soul was hurting for the fact that she couldn't break loose of her own restraints and just kill these hunters who had used her so casually. She could get pregnant from these hunters if she lived to see another day. That thought terrified her. She could get a disease or something. She didn't know which was worse. Either way she chose the disease. She was going to die soon enough anyway.

"I think I'm going to have to teach you to like it later. I'm pretty much spent now, Saseko." He ran one hand down her cheek and she lost enough self-control to slap it away. This deserved her a painful slap across the face and a violent shove backwards onto the concrete floor of the unused garage where the hunters had dragged her too. There was no comfort for her there and no way to escape. The hunters knew that much.

"See you latter, Saseko," Aki's father said as he blew a sarcastic kiss in Ryoko's direction.

"Bye bye," said the one who had helped restrain her before.

The hunter who had slapped her said nothing as he left. He was mad at her for a painless slap on his hand. Talk about babyish…

"By the way, Saseko, my daughter will bring you something good to eat here in a little while. We can't let you get anymore bony or you won't be as much fun." With that the hunters were gone, leaving Ryoko all to herself.

She wondered what to do for a moment. She was all alone and was free to think over her emotions. She felt, above all, sad at that moment. She was sad and hurt. She wanted someone familiar to hold her. To tell her that she would be okay. Above all else…she knew that she really wanted Kousuke. She really wanted to be his girl, not that…that bastards whore. She had self-pity, and for once in her life…Ryoko felt that that was okay. She had a right to feel sorry for herself didn't she?

With all of the confusion and loneliness, Ryoko allowed herself to cry for the first time in a long time. She usually wasn't the crying type, but at that moment she wanted to cry. She wanted to cry to wash away whatever problem she could.

Her sobs were loud and carried through the doors of the garage and Aki heard them as she readied herself to open the door to whatever pain engulfed blade child lay trapped. The sobs were mournful and made her want to cry as well.

Akiko sat outside of the door and waited until the cries and whimpers quieted the slightest bit before even considering opening the door. She didn't want Ryoko to feel ashamed or embarrassed, although she knew Ryoko would be when she walked in the door and saw her naked and sobbing. Anyone in their right mind would be embarrassed.

But Aki soon found out that Ryoko was not in her right mind at all…

Just as the sobs quieted, Aki went to open the door and that's when she noticed it. Ryoko's sobs were turning into laughter. Hysterical laughter like there was something comical going on in that room. She had already turned the doorknob so she pushed open the door, daring to go in. Ryoko was the gentle blade child. She wouldn't hurt her…right?

"R-Ryoko? I-I brought you some food incase you were hungry." Aki gulped and walked over to the dark figure huddled in the far corner of the garage. This was a four car garage so she was rather far away.

When no response came Aki wondered if Ryoko had even heard her at al over her spurt of insane laughter.

"R-Ryoko?" Slowed her walk as far as she could.

"A-Akiko?" Ryoko mimicked, mocking the girl. She was actually quite insane at that moment, but she wasn't planning to cause Aki any harm. She was just innocently…as innocent as a raped blade child could get, playing with the girl, but she stopped when she heard Aki start to cry and drop the tray of food onto the floor.

Ryoko coked her head to the side. She suddenly felt ashamed again, but did not start to cry instead she apologized to her only friend in her hell hole.

"I'm sorry. I was just messing around. I was thinking about things and I guess I lost myself for a moment," Ryoko stated looking down at the cement between her feet.

"Ryoko..." Aki wanted to say something, but she was at a loss with words.

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Kousuke had long since decided that the traffic jam that he had been stuck in was taking far too long so he got out of the taxi that he had been in and ran as fast as he could to the apartments where Ryoko was being kept. He knew that by now, 20 minutes later, it was too late to save Ryoko from being raped if that's what the hunters were wanting to dish out. He just hoped that they hadn't killed her yet. If they killed her he would never forgive himself.

Then the thought hit him.

Why was he being so mushy and weak?

Although he didn't like the idea of saying it, and he knew that it was dangerous, the answer was the he loved Ryoko. That was the answer. He loved her and needed her to survive. He didn't care if she hated him forever and ever. He would not live knowing that she died when there was something that he could do to prevent that kind of ending.

Soon he was out of breath from running and nearly passed out from light-headedness when the large spikes came into view. That gave him all of the encouragement he needed. It was like having over a thousand people cheer you on in a marathon waiting to greet you with a million dollars cash if you pass the person in front of you. What more could you ask for?

As soon as he approached the front door of the apartments he heard something. (A/N: going back to the hysterical laughter time being.) He heard a loud noise, somewhere between laughter and sobbing, and recognized the voice as Ryoko's. He walked around, following the voice and it lead him to the garage around the back. The laughter/sobbing stopped suddenly and Kousuke put his ear to one of the garage's doors to hear what was going on. Had Ryoko died, not likely…

"R-Ryoko?" Kousuke recognized this voice as the one of the girl that had called him.

"A-Aki?" This was Ryoko's voice no doubt, but it was followed by a strange little laugh. Something was terribly wrong here. Ryoko never taunted anyone but _him _like that.

There was a loud crashing sound. Kousuke fought back the urge to call out for Ryoko, but feared that he would just get her hurt again.

Then he heard Ryoko apologize. He knew that she was alone with that girl for that short moment. He also knew that the conversation with her and Aki was over as soon as he heard the silence after the girl remained silent after stating Ryoko's name.

He felt free enough to call for Ryoko quietly through the door. As quietly as an angry, love struck blade child could when it was filled to the rim with hatred for whoever laid a hand on _his_ Ryoko.

He started by pounding on the garage door and saying, not yelling, Ryoko's name.

"Ryoko? Are you there? It's me! Hello?" Kousuke stopped pounding for a moment so he could listen better.

There was a knock from the other side of the door. On the lower part of the other side of the door…Kousuke kneeled down to look through the small crack between the bottom of the door and the cement driveway only to see one big, amber eye staring back at him.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw it, and fell backwards hitting his head on the cement enough to draw a little bit of blood that would soon be lost by all of his red hair.

"Hello Kousuke." Ryoko said. Kousuke heard a latch being moved and then the garage door lifted up. His eyes followed the moving piece of metal and smiled at the girl he saw lifting it. Then his eyes traced down to the ground where a very bloody, very dirty, Ryoko lay there bleeding and looking lifeless. His eyes scanned over her and then a crimson blush spread across his face.

Ryoko was naked!

But the scariest part was that he knew what had happened to Ryoko and that he hadn't gotten there in time to save her. He wanted to slap himself as hard as he could. But he feared that that would scare Ryoko.

"Oh my god, Ryoko, are you alright? Can you stand?" Kousuke reached into the inside pocket of his green coat and pulled something out quickly, and tucked it away behind him before Ryoko could see what it was.

"I can stand, Kousuke. I-I'm not that helpless." Aki was amazed that after all that had happened, Ryoko still had managed to keep a cocky attitude with Kousuke. It was cute to her.

Ryoko stood up slowly. Stretching her muscles also stretched out the wounds in her legs. She whimpered slightly and then allowed herself to fall forward onto Kousuke. He was dizzy and his body was welcoming to her. She knew that he would do nothing to hurt her.

"Can you stand on your own for just one more second?" Kousuke asked gingerly setting Ryoko back on her feet. She nodded and watched as he slipped off his green coat and put it around her body. _It may not cover everything, but at least it'll keep her warm and hide her chest. I swear I'm going to kill whoever injured **my **Ryoko this bad. I'll murder them…_

"Kousuke. Lets just get of here before we both die." Ryoko's voice had a soft tone to it. Much in the fashion the Sayoko's was.

"Sounds like a plan to me…" Just as Kousuke and Ryoko turned to leave there was a loud _crack _and a bullet missed Kousuke's leg by nearly a millimeter.

"Where do you think you're going with Saseko?" Asked the hunter. This one was Aki's father and he had the other two behind him. "I thought you said they weren't coming for you, Saseko? I could've sworn that we taught you better than to lye." He and the other hunters laughed.

Kousuke was furious. Why were they addressing _his _Ryoko as a whore? She was defiantly not one and he didn't like people calling her that. It just pissed him off. These people had hurt Ryoko. And he was going to make them pay.

Kousuke pulled out a black pistol from his back pocket and aimed it at the hunters.

"Kousuke no!" Ryoko attempted to reach for the gun but Akiko grabbed her arm and shook her head.

"You had your fun playing with my girl, but I doubt you'll have very much fun playing with a blade child!" Kousuke prepared to fire the gun, but something stopped him. He heard Ryoko sobbing. He just realized that he was hurting Ryoko more than anyone else.

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**A/N:** I know I know…crappy ending and all that jazz…it's 11:46 and I'm tired! I'll get the next chapter up soon. So far I have 2 votes for a happy ending and some Kousuke angst to be served. Anyone out there want a tragedy? Or do you all want me to post a happy ending AND a tragic ending just to see what cruel things I can dish out? Please review to tell me what you all want. I strive to please. Chow…


	8. Drag Me Down With You

**Title (yes back to boring uneventful chapter starter, just saying Title and then all I have to say, I am out of ideas for a new way to introduce this chapter title so get over it): **Drag Me Down With You

**A/N: **Yes, I apologize for the long wait, I haven't been feeling very well lately and I'm sorry for all of those of you who feel that I have left you hanging. A bad cliff hanger I know…gomenasai…But I'm back thank you for continuing to read. Now read dang you! Oh BTW in the last chapter where Kousuke said and I quote "You had your fun playing with my girl, but I doubt you'll have very much fun playing with a blade child!" I meant to put "with this blade child" I was tired and made a typo…sorry for making myself sound ignorant heh heh…

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_Fire the gun kill the man, it's that simple! So why can't I do it! _Kousuke was at a dilemma. This man had forever scared his beautiful girl and he wanted so badly to get revenge on him, but it would hurt Ryoko if he did. Why oh why did she have to despise killing so much? Why? It just made things a hell of a lot more complicated.

"Kousuke, don't kill him!" Ryoko pleaded, brining Kousuke back from his thoughts.

"But Ryoko! I—"

"You what? You promised me!" Ryoko glared at him despite the tears in her eyes they burned with rage. "Are you going to lie to me for the sake of revenge? Kousuke…" Ryoko looked at him, dismay and hatred burned in her eyes. He knew…he knew that she wanted nothing more than to kill that hunter herself, but was holding back on the urge. He was in awe over how much self-control she had to the amount that he lacked. Perhaps he even envied it. "Are you still going to kill him…" Ryoko paused. "If it meant killing me?"

Kousuke's pupils turned to slits. What was Ryoko getting at? Was she actually talking about killing herself if he killed this man, this _hunter?_ Ryoko was obstinate, Kousuke knew that. If she had her mind set on killing herself if he killed this man then she would. Kousuke was all too aware of that fact.

"I-I w-won't do it!" Kousuke said as he flung the gun to the side. _Damnit…Ryoko if we get killed because of this…_he sighed. _Either way we are both going to die…If I shot him and killed him and all of the other hunters I see, Ryoko would've killed herself and then my life wouldn't be worth living. I…I think it's best to be killed by these hunters together, rather than kill Ryoko first and then have to drag myself down with her. That is the way of the blade children isn't it…To drag each other down! _"Drag each other down! That's what Kanone did! He wanted to go down and take us all with him!" Kousuke was breathing hard. He hadn't realized that he was shouting out loud. Those thoughts if any were meant to be locked up in his mind.

"Thank you, Kousuke." Ryoko grinned at him a little. The rage fled from her eyes. Kousuke was listening to her and that made her glad. She had conquered one of the blade child's worst habits single handedly.

"Don't listen to them! It's a trick!" The hunter yelled. "Blade children don't give up that easily!" He and the others aimed their guns at the two blade children. "Akiko, move," the hunter instructed his daughter who delayed for just a second as she glanced at the two blade children before obeying the command.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly before turning and running off to hide herself from view somewhere in the distance. She didn't want to see the only blade child that had ever been kind to her be killed. She had been stabbed by blade children before, beaten to the brink o death, but never before had one of them seemed so peaceful. So at ease. Akiko wished beyond belief that there was someway that she could help save the girl, but there was not. Her father had told her before. Death is the destiny of the blade children…And then Kousuke had just said that they drag each other down. "If one dies when there's another around," Aki thought. "Sometimes they might kill the other, or the other might kill…himself!"

She understood now. Ryoko didn't like killing, that was obvious, and it appeared to her that Kousuke promised not to kill, so if he did she would bring an end to her own life…

"And judging by how close they are Kousuke would do the same. Without knowing it, Ryoko would be pulling him into the black abyss that she fell into." A tear streamed down her cheek. Ryoko was aware of that fact too, she had to be. If she killed herself in the end she would kill Kousuke as well. "But Ryoko doesn't kill!" Aki cried to herself. _If Kousuke could've figured that out and killed my father Ryoko may have never forgiven him, but she couldn't kill herself. She doesn't have the heart to drag Kousuke under. _"She doesn't have a black heart like some of the others."

"Say your prayers, blade children. It's time for me to end this bedtime story." The hunter laughed and there was a loud crack. Both Kousuke and Ryoko stood stunned. A black abyss was waiting to pull one of them under, but who was to go first and drag the other one down with?

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**A/N: **Yes it is meant to end with just"down with?" I know it sound incomplete but saying with him or with her might give away the ending. I apologize for the shortness, but I have 2 endings to write and they all revolve around whether it is tragic or happy with what happens next. So you can either flame me with hate mail if you read tragedy, or appraise me for my mercy…or be somewhere in between. And remember, from here on out, Flamers are most welcome.


	9. So Much For my Tragic ending

**Title: **So much for my tragic ending

**A/N: **Yes, I apologize for the long wait…once again, I haven't been feeling very well lately…once again. I get to see the doctor Nov. 1st. and I'm sorry for all of those of you who feel that I have left you hanging. A bad cliff hanger I know…gomenasai…again……But I'm back again…thank you for continuing to read. This chapter is the happy one, despite the title. I have no strength to write I tradgedy, sorry. But if I get pissed I'll upload one. Don't hold me to it though. I can't guarantee length in either one, but I guess this is better than nothing.

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There was a long moment of silence. Both Kousuke and Ryoko were waiting for some strong pain to flare through them, but it took a few moments. Aki's loud shrill pierced the silence. It was loud enough that Ryoko thought for a moment that she had been shoot rather than one of the blade children.

That was, until she laid eyes on the bloody wound the hunter bared on his chest. Then she was filled with rage. Kousuke had promised her not to kill him. So why would he…

Serves you right, you bloody bastard," said a soft voice from behind them. Ryoko knew that voice. It was…

"Eyes-sama…"Ryoko turned slowly around to face the blue-eyed Brit. The hunter's lifeless body fell to the ground; the other hunters squabbled around to see if they could help. The only thing that he muttered was "kill them." The other hunters were more than happy to comply.

Noting this, Eyes went a little bit trigger-happy, firing two bullets in each of the other hunters. Kousuke turned Ryoko around to face his chest and held her close to not allow her to see. She was against killing, and always would be. Kousuke learned later on to respect that.

"Come now, Kousuke," Eyes said as he walked towards the two. "Is it that hard to fire a bullet and kill?" Kousuke took a moment before replying.

"It is when the love of your life is dead-set against it." There was a pause. "But don't get me wrong, I was just about to shoot that hunter. You just beat me to it." Ryoko grinned slightly, but Kousuke did not see.

"Sure you were," Eyes said as he turned away. Kousuke and Ryoko were quick to follow after him.

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**A/N: **I know, very short, but I'm really sorry. I have no good ideas and I got a mail telling me to hurry my butt up, so I did. Please review. Tell me what you think. This is the end by the way. I know its bad, but oh well…it's the best I can do.


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